The Christian Community

• Motto: Movement for Renewal
• Formation: 1922
• Founder: Friedrich Rittelmeyer

The Christian Community is a Christian denomination founded in Switzerland in 1922. It began with a group of forty-five ministers and theologians led by Friedrich Rittelmeyer, a German Lutheran minister. Prior to World War II (1939–1945), the Community was mainly focused in Europe, eventually spreading to the United States and other parts of the world after the war. In the mid-2020s, the Christian Community had over 35,000 members worshiping in 200 locations around the world. In addition to the primary worship sites, many Christian Community congregations have affiliate branches that are served by one of the priests from the primary sites.

The individual congregations of the church are self-supporting and largely self-governing. Regional and international bodies provide guidance and help facilitate the church’s work on these larger levels. In addition, there are also seminaries of the Christian Community that prepare clergy with a three-year program of study. The seminaries are located at several sites in Germany as well as in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Classes and programs are also offered for people with an interest in theology who do not seek ordination.

History

The Christian Community was founded in 1922 following a gathering of forty-five Lutheran ministers and theologians, primarily from Switzerland and Germany. The group saw the need for a renewal in Christianity, which they felt was feeling the effects of the growing influence of science on society. They believed that while Christians were still worshiping God and keeping biblical teachings, there was a decreased emphasis on spirituality. They blamed this trend on the growing reach of science, a discipline that explains things with certainties and proofs rather than faith.

The founders of The Christian Community sought an answer to this in the teachings of philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Born in what was then Austria, Steiner was well-educated with a keen interest in both education and spirituality. He published books on scientific and philosophical topics. Steiner is credited with establishing the Waldorf educational philosophy, which is focused on developing children intellectually, physically, and spiritually. This method was derived from the philosophy of anthroposophy, which was also developed by Steiner at the end of the nineteenth century.

Steiner envisioned anthroposophy as a bridge between science and the spiritual, providing for a complete outlook on life that neither could provide alone. This philosophy emphasized meeting the needs of the human spirit, or soul, in addition to providing for intellectual growth and mental and physical health.

In 1922, Friedrich Rittelmeyer and a number of his colleagues gathered in Switzerland and looked to Steiner’s philosophy as the foundation of a new denomination. Christian teachings included a number of situations that contradicted the scientific principles that were becoming so prevalent at the time. Matters such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ and transubstantiation—the belief that bread and wine given during communion became the literal body and blood of Christ—defied scientific explanation. Rittelmeyer and the others applied Steiner’s approach to spirituality and science to Christian teachings. They sought a way that people could reconcile science with their Christian faith in a world that was increasingly focused on the scientific.

For its first two decades, the Christian Community was located in Europe. After World War II ended in 1945, congregations were formed in other countries. In 1948, the church reached North America when a congregation was founded in New York City. In the next few decades, other congregations formed in major cities, including Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Baltimore, Denver, and Detroit. Congregations also formed in communities in upstate New York. Several of these sites also produced affiliate sites associated with the larger congregations. Christian Community congregations can also be found in Canada, Germany, Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Finland, Spain, Italy, South America, and southern Africa.

Beliefs and Practices

The Christian Community believes in seven sacraments, which they refer to as the renewed sacraments. These include The Consecration of the Human Being, Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, the Last Anointing, Sacramental Consultation, and Ordination. Of these, the Act of Consecration of Man is seen as the most significant.

The Act of Consecration is similar to the worship gathering known as the Mass. It is a solemn event focused on communal prayer and culminating with the transubstantiation and reception of communion. The service begins with readings from the Bible, which is viewed as God’s word. Those gathered then offer a response to readings in the form of offerings of thoughts, prayers, and financial contributions to support the work of the church. This is followed by a ritual that transforms bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. This act, based on biblical accounts of Jesus’s Last Supper with his disciples before he was crucified, is the center point of worship for many Christian denominations. However, not all believe the bread and wine are transubstantiated as Christian Community members do.

This service is for those over the age of fourteen and those younger than three. Children between those ages attend a special service to prepare them to become full members of the church. This occurs at the age of fourteen when church members are confirmed. The sacrament is believed to provide additional blessings to the young Christian to help them find their way in faith and life.

Prior to confirmation, children are baptized into the faith. This ritual of initiation is common in Christian practices. The Christian Community sees this as the child accepting the transforming power of Christ’s love through the actions of their godparents at the time of baptism.

Since its foundation, the Christian Community has ordained its priests regardless of gender and has performed same-sex marriages. However, the church ritual differs for couples of the same and different genders. The Christian Community sees marriage as a rite that repairs the original division between male and female when the sexes were created. This is not necessary for same-sex unions, so a different rite is used.

Of the other sacraments, the Last Anointing is given to a person close to death. It is seen as a source of strength to help the person make the final crossing into the afterlife. Sacramental consultation is a form of confidential counseling to help the person grow and develop as a Christian.

Bibliography

Davy, John. “Rudolf Steiner: A Sketch of His Life and Work.” Center for Anthroposophy, www.centerforanthroposophy.org/about/rudolf-steiner. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.

“The Christian Community—Movement for Religious Renewal.” Anthroposophical Society in Canada, www.anthroposophy.ca/en/initiatives/christian-community. Accessed 3 Jan. 2015.

“Remembering Friedrich Rittelmeyer.” Reverse Ritual, 5 Oct. 2017, reverseritual.com/remembering-friedrich-rittelmeyer. Accessed 3 Jan. 2015.

“The Renewed Sacraments.” The Christian Community, www.thechristiancommunity.org/renewal-of-the-sacraments. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.

“Rudolf Steiner.” Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain, anthroposophy.org.uk/rudolf-steiner. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.

“The Seminary of the Christian Community in North America.” The Seminary of the Christian Community, www.christiancommunityseminary.ca/about-the-seminary. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.

“What is Anthroposophy?” Denver Waldorf School, denverwaldorf.org/what-is-anthroposophy. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.

“Who We Are.” The Christian Community in North America, www.thechristiancommunity.org/about/. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.